


Matt, Why Is There A Dog In Our Apartment?

by itismesee



Category: Daredevil (Comics), Daredevil (TV)
Genre: A lot - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Magic, Anna is the best momma, Candy is not dealing with your crap bros, Familiars, Frank is the sweeties dog yall, Gen, Its a fae world yall, Matt is a sweet little magic user, Matt is gonna cry, but she loves you, not sorry, so are the Nelson Clan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-08 12:15:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21475870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itismesee/pseuds/itismesee
Summary: So Matt and the Nelson Clan are magic. It's a fae world yall. This adventure revolves around Matt's adventures with his familiar Frank Castle. Enjoy!*After the first chapter I am taking prompts! Otherwise, it's just me and a very slow imagination!
Relationships: Frank Castle & Matt Murdock, Matt Murdock & Franklin "Foggy" Nelson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Matt, Why Is There A Dog In Our Apartment?

“Matt? Hey, wake up. Why is there a dog in our apartment?”

Oh what Matt would give not to have to explain that. He sat up on his elbow and rubbed at his face groaning into his hand. 

“He is really cute Matt. I swear you find the pretties people and now the prettiest dog! He has this beautiful gold that makes his coat so shiny and brown and black wavy patterns, with chocolate eyes. Man, where did you find this good boy?”

Matt froze because he defiantly heard hands going through fur. He had to be hallucinating- Frank Castle could not be letting Foggy ‘pet’ him? Like you have a scary reputation man.

“Ummm… Fog? You’re gonna wanna sit down.”

Foggy sat down on the bed but didn’t stop petting the dog. 

Okay, so how do you explain to your best friend that you kinda found a familiar last night and made him yours? Also that he is the mass murder that we just defended, screwed us over, and broke out of jail?

Matt wasn’t sure either and honestly he kind of just sat there anxiety building until Frank came and licked his face and laid in his lap. 

Wait. Did Frank just?

Ew. 

“Matt I think we should keep him. What am I gonna have to do to get you to agree?”

What the fuck Fog? You are making this so much harder. He found himself grabbing at Frank’s neck, kneading the fur there.

Huh? It seems like they were pretty bonded already. The thought distracted Matt and he found himself reaching out to feel the connection. It had grown a lot in one night. Not that Matt really knew the normal bond rate, but it seemed quick. It was pretty strong, it was…nice.

As he continued to kneaded the fur he felt himself to relax and able to take a deep breath again. As he came back he found Foggy holding his free hand, rubbing his thumb on top of Matt’s hand.

A smile in his voice, but there was wet there too; “Hey buddy, what are you thinking?”

Matt’s lips pressed together, clutching Foggy’s hand, “You are not gonna like it.”

Foggy took his own deep breath, “Okay, tell me anyway. I’m not leaving, not ever gonna either.”

Matt had to fight tears for a second. Foggy said that every time now, thousands of times and it still made him want to cry every time. 

“He is my familiar, he is Frank Castle.”

“Shit”

Yeah, he knows.

Foggy was still holding his hand but now turned to face the dog occupying Matt’s lap. A surge of magic came out and Matt instinctually provided protection over Frank.

“Fuck buddy, I’m not going to hurt him. Warn me next time, you have no idea how bright that is to me.”

It was terrible irony that Foggy dealt with ‘sighted’ magic. He always found Matt’s spells to be ‘too bright’. Matt didn’t have a lot of control, worked mostly off of instinct and what the Nelson’s library provided. 

So he figured that most people had more focused ‘light bulbs’ or ‘string light’ effect for Foggy to read. Everyone had their own way to ‘read’ magic. Matt wouldn’t call it ‘seeing’; he felt it like everything else. Like the push and pull of air moving through a space. One of Foggy’s cousins thought it sounded like music, but most people saw magic like Foggy. Well out of the handful of people outside the Nelson clan he knew.

“Matty…That was a huge decision. I just don’t understand- why Frank? Why now?”

Yeah. Like most life decisions Matt made it was done quickly and without a lot of time for thought. Frank was going to die. Familiars once a familiar didn’t live long without a bond. It was amazing he was still alive after his wife died.  
Last night Frank was so tired and sick he and Matt just sat on a roof. He told Matt he knew he had the gift. Familiars could sense it, unlike common folk. Once Matt knew Frank was dying, he wanted to help. Frank was already done with his mission. It wasn’t like Frank would feel the need to kill Matt to finish the men who killed his family. All he wanted was justice. 

Matt knew, even with his limited education in magic that taking a familiar was a life-time decision. Close to marriage, and in many cases like Frank- apart of marriage. It was a life-time bond. But what was he supposed to do? Let Frank die on the rooftop.

“He was gonna die. And and- I don’t know…” It was too early, it was too hard and Matt just didn’t want to be here. He was starting to drift when Foggy wiped under Matt’s eyes, then pulled him into a hug.

“Okay, okay- buddy. You are exhausted. That bonding must have taken a lot out of you. We are taking the day off.” Then turning to Frank, still laying in Matt’s lap.

“You! We are having words, Dog!”

Matt smiled, pulling Frank’s head closer to his chest. It felt good to be close. There wasn’t any of the awkwardness he felt with other people, it was like having an instant Foggy level of friendship-family. It soothed something in his chest to bury his face between Frank’s ears and take a deep breath.

“Buddy, why don’t you lay back down and sleep some more? I’ll get some breakfast together in a bit. I think maybe we should get Mom or Candy over soon. We need to talk about this and they know more about familiars than I do.”

Matt just hummed already losing the fight to stay awake.

When Matt woke up again, it was to the quiet knocking of Candy and Mom and the smell of cinnamon. They had brought cinnamon rolls! He stretched dislodging Frank who was positioned at the end of the bed over his feet.

Frank didn’t seem to mind, moving to the floor to follow Matt, sticking to his side as he walked into his bathroom to get ready. Frank made sure that he was lightly touching Matt’s leg the whole time. Matt was glad of it. He wasn’t sure why but if Frank wasn’t by his side he would seek him out.

Matt made it out finally, tripping over Frank and cursing before blushing an apologizing- mostly to Mom. Candy had a worse mouth. 

“Awww! I love your heart PJs!” Damn it Foggy. Matt was skipping his laundry this week.

Mom made appreciative sounds before pulling Matt into a big hug. She released a little magic over his skin drawing a small rune on his back; it felt like she was lightly rubbing from his arms up to his scalp. It must be a healing spell. She always worried he was draining himself. She wanted him to be more purposeful with his use; apparently, he needed to take better care of himself. 

“So this must be your familiar! Hello Dear, I’m their Momma Anna and this is their sister Candy. It is nice to meet you, Frank!”

Matt’s heart hurt and he must be tired still because a few tears slid down his face to be wiped away by Mom’s steady hands.

“Oh sweetie, you have to be so raw right now huh? Go on settle on the couch and I’ll make up a plate for you. Then we can have a good chat!”

Once he was settled on the couch with Frank’s head in his lap. Foggy had remarked “Oh, okay so we let him on the couch huh?” and got whacked by Candy

“He is not a pet, Foggy!”

Mom had apologized for not having more dog-friendly breakfasts and still gave Frank his own small portion of rolls. 

“Okay, now let us see. Where should we start Candy?” Mom was thumbing through a hand bound book; every time she turned a page it let a little puff of Nelson’s home free in the apartment. It must be one of the Nelson’s family texts.

“Matty do you know much about familiars? You want a refresher on the basics or just go to the specifics?” Oh Candy with the logic and making sure Matt was prepared for either a long lesson from Mom or the quick version.

“I don’t know much, but specifics now and overview later might be better. I’m not sure what to do right now or what happens from here.”

It might not be unusual to have such a lack of education in magic, but Matt still felt nervous admitting it. It wasn’t like magic was out in the open; there was still a fear of witch trials even now. So the Nelson’s homeschooling was extraordinary, set up long ago to help keep their clan educated. Matt’s Dad had tried to teach him what he could, but it was just simple spells and charms that the Nelson’s taught their kids. The rest he used by instinct- uncontained magic.

Uncontained magic while still useful was dangerous because it relied solely on one’s ability to contain its use rather than the use of ruins, spells or other charms to help direct and end the flow of it. Matt used it without fear and Foggy worried all the time. The Nelson’s had a healthy dose of fear for uncontained magic and their education dictated it less useful and more of a danger. 

“Okay, right now there isn’t much else for you to do. Unless the bond feels strange you are pretty much already set. It will grow and settle over the next several days and then all you have to do remember some basic rules so you don’t break the bond or get ill forgetting regular maintenance. George and I don’t have too many issues with it so I don’t expect you will either.”

The only thing was Matt had no clue if the bond felt okay or not. It wasn’t like he had felt anyone else bond. Familiars weren’t too rare in their world, but it wasn’t normal to just reach out to someone bond and ‘test’ it. He knew Candy had let the Nelson kids feel her and her husband’s bond when they did lessons, but Matt never felt comfortable sitting in on a lesson much less participating. 

“I…I don’t know what. I don’t know what it is supposed to feel like. Sorry”, He buried his face in Frank’s fur again. Plate abandoned.

Smile in her voice, “That’s okay, don’t be sorry sweetie! Do you want Candy to take a look?”

Candy’s voice usually was pretty loud, full of life, but she lowered it for him, “I don’t mind, Matty. I’ll be gentle go slow and everything.”

Mom was right he really did feel raw and the just thought of letting anyone touch the bond hurt like air hitting an open wound. The anxiety of not knowing and the fact he needed to know so he could help Frank was greater. He could survive a little pain.

Candy had kneeled down in front of them, running a hand through his hair before drawing a rune in the air focus her sight on the bond. Her heartbeat stayed fairly steady but had a little surprise plop up. 

“Matt it’s beautiful, different hues of red. It looks like they are spinning making diamond patterns as they connect more and more. It’s pretty quick; I can see it moving every second. Candy and George’s were like every few seconds right?” Foggy bent over to look at it some more before Candy wiped the rune away closing it up.

“Yeah, your bond is going to be a deep and strong one at the very beginning. That is good especially considering Frank already was connected before and so close to… Matt that was incredibly dangerous, but you are the brave stupid one of us kids huh?”

Candy and Mom took turns fussing over him, trying to decide if he needed healing charm or not. Matt tried to stop them but he was listing to the one side and finally just gave up and moved to lean on the arm of the couch. This, of course, lead to less contact with Frank which started tears again until Frank decided the only way to fix this was to climb fully into Matt’s lap, which did help but it also left a huge dog in his lap. Matt was pretty sure Foggy had snapped a picture as Mom drew yet another rune on his skin for health and protection.

“Guys I think maybe we should tune back into our regular programming.” Foggy was a Godsend honestly. He had a way of reading Matt and it helped when Matt felt like he could fall back to sleep if left alone for more than a minute. 

“He is right, okay Matt specifics then basics how to of familiar bonds. A strong bond like this is good. Frank, you had a severed bond and were close- well let’s leave it at that. That strength will keep you and Matt alive and well. I’m not worried about any bond death as of now, but Frank if you can’t wake Matt up or he gets too confused to answer simple questions or do simple tasks you need to find Foggy or call one of us fast.”

Matt tilted his head, “Why? I’m pretty sure I can take care of myself Candy.”

“Not questioning that sweetie. I assume you didn’t use a spell or a rune, which is good because it will keep the bond strong and Frank alive, but it means that it, could sacrifice your side of the bond. It is rare but Frank was close and that makes it more likely. It isn’t something most people see or feel coming.” Mom pushed his plate towards him again and he tried to take another bite for her. 

“Well, I’ll be home today so we should be safe right? Just need to use some healing runes and he is on bed rest right?”  
Candy shook her head like she was debating hitting Foggy on the head, “Bonds take days to settle, it could happen the whole time until it is set. Yes to bed rest for today and the next two days if you can Matt. This is going to take a toll on you. I’m pretty sure that is why Frank hasn’t changed to human form, right?”

Frank pretty much ignored them besides turning his face and presumably giving a pointed look at Candy.

“I’ll take that as a yes. It is good you have some experience with this. It will help with the transition now that I don’t have to educate a familiar. They never understand how important things are until it gets bad! I swear!” Matt had forgotten Candy often helped out with training familiars now that Grandma Kathy was retired. 

“So for right now it is just monitoring the bond until it is set. You are going to feel pretty tired, sleep as much as you want to but you will have to be woken up every couple of hours to check-in. You two are not going to want to be far from each other or not touching for a while. It might be painful the first few times you are away for more than a few minutes. But then it is pretty easy from there. We can test the limits of the bond and practice some bond skills, but really it is just making sure you two don’t forget to not stay away from each other too long and Frank needs to switch forms a couple of times a week so the bond doesn’t start to die. I know it is a lot to take in but familiar bonds are wonderful things, I think it will be a great thing for both of you in the end.” Candy reached out to hold Matt’s hand. It was nice. Matt was so out of it.

He was sent back to bed, the girls said their goodbyes and Candy promised to come back the next day to do another check and maybe go over clan history with Frank and to train him if his education in fae was not up to her standards. Frank didn’t seem to pay any mind to her comments too focused on finding a comfortable spot on Matt’s bed. As Matt drifted off again he wondered if Frank would like his own bed and if he would need a human bed and a dog bed? 

It was sometime in the early morning when he woke again. Thirsty and hungry again, but the sun had yet to warm the windows. Foggy was snoring in his room and Matt didn’t feel like disturbing his peaceful rest just to get up and feed himself. He was an independent man who did not need a Foggy! He just…the hugs man- the hugs were good.

So even though he still felt a bit dizzy and oh so tired he shifted Frank off his legs and started his slow walk to the kitchen. Frank whined but did a wiggle that flipped him from laying on one side to the other and wiggled again to get off the bed following Matt. Frank was getting really underfoot. He kept circling around Matt; if he didn’t know better he would assume Frank was herding him back into bed. So Matt carefully zigzagged his way to the kitchen in order to accommodate Frank. 

“Were you a sheepdog in another life Frank?”

Matt kept a hand of Frank’s head to help navigate and stifled a yawn. Water he was here for water. Get a glass or maybe one of those big plastic cups instead. More water, not loud and probably won’t break if he ends up shaking it out of his own hands. 

Water acquired. Now meal? No too much work. Snack? Snack. What did they have for a snack? Matt felt around in the fridge and then fruit bowel- ah! Peaches! Can dogs have peaches?

Matt grabbed the bowl and sat on the kitchen floor leaning up against the cabinets. 

“Can you eat Peaches?”, Matt held out a peach just in case Frank wished to partake. He gave the peach a sniff and then abandoned it to boop his nose into Matt’s chin. He gave a little hoof as if to say come on-bed.

Matt ignored this suggestion and continued to eat his peach on the floor. It was sweet and dripped down his chin. He was too tired to try and reach the paper towels so he wiped at his face and licked his fingers of the sticky mess like a heathen. 

When he finished and Frank finally settled his head on Matt’s lap still whining. Matt hummed at him and ran his hand through his fur. He hoped that it didn’t come off rude, but his fur was soooo soft. Frank did seem a little upset and just as Matt realized he was about to have a cry about that and be embarrassed Frank pawed his hand until he could reach it with his tongue and licked off more peach juice that apparently was making his fur sticky. Matt giggled, but it didn’t last long he was so tired still. He wanted to go to bed, it was too cold on the kitchen floor even if Frank would lie next to him and share warmth.

Matt let his head knock back into the kitchen cabinets lightly and took a good deep breath. He could do this. The bed was only what fifteen feet away? Twenty steps. Just had to stand up. Stand up Murdock.

Yeah, he wasn’t going to even try, too much energy even after the peach. Maybe eating the peach really did take all the energy from him? Fuck. Frank whined again. Matt patted his head.

“I think I’m gonna hang out here for a while more. I don’t feel so good. Too tired. Maybe I’ll nap here for a few mins. Then we can go back to bed okay?” Matt let himself list into the cabinet corner and settle into it. 

Frank abandoned him.

It really shouldn’t have made him cry and Matt was embarrassed but he was so wrung out. He got a few sniffs in and tears had run down into the collar of his T-shirt by the time he felt Foggy’s hand touch his face.

“Hey buddy.” His voice was so soft that Matt found himself wanting to cry even harder.

“Oh Matty, hey it’s okay. You’re okay. Frank came and got me. Got stuck huh?”

Matt nodded, “too tired.”

Foggy guided Matt’s arms around Foggy’s neck and threaded his arms around Matt’s back and under his knees hefting him up in one great movement. Sometimes Matt forgot how strong Foggy was.

“I got you buddy. Frank if you dare trip me you are so not allowed on the couch!”

Foggy settled Matt back into bed and the tears slowed and Matt’s breath was even again.

They had a wonderful afternoon and had a lot of laughs. Matt was so happy to enjoy the company that even when he became tired again he was reluctant to move back to bed and instead let himself drift off on the couch. When he woke up he was snuggled all nice and warm up to Frank…A very human Frank.

Matt took a moment and waited for his cheeks to become red, embarrassed to have found his way deep into Frank’s chest. He waited and waited and it never came. Frank pulled him closer and pulled the blanket back up to cover Matt’s shoulders. He felt himself relax into the hold. He never thought he would feel this comfortable with human Frank as he did with Frank in his dog form.

Matt sat up a bit, “Look who decided to join the land of the living! You hungry buddy?”

He nodded and rubbed the sleep from his eyes listening to Foggy and Candy shuffle through the kitchen trying to figure out what could be made from leftovers and scraps of the last grocery run. 

“Hey Red”, Frank had a nice rumble in his voice that vibrated through Matt’s body.

“Hi, Human Frank.”

Frank’s smile came through in his voice, “You dork. Are you punch drunk?”

Matt hummed a little and laid his head down on Frank’s shoulder, “Maybe a little…”

Frank gave a little hum that Matt happily sighed into.

Matt’s forehead was suddenly met with Frank’s, “Red…Thank you. I’m glad YOU saved me.”

Matt reached up to grab Frank’s arm to squeeze and let his head rest against Frank’s.

“You’re welcome…I’m glad it was you too.”

Matt started to move his finger in patterns on Frank’s bicep sleepy again. He should have reacted but he was so distracted that when Candy moved quick enough to displace the air so hard Matt felt it on his face right before she slapped his hand away from Frank.

“Matthew! Have you not learned anything?!”

“Candy what is it? What happened” Apparently Foggy didn’t know either. At least that meant he wasn’t missing more than he was supposed to.

“The idiot was drawing a rune! He was going to magic in his state! Fog I swear he is coming for your title for Most Stupid with Magic.”

Oh? Maybe he wasn’t paying as much attention as he was supposed to. Matt usually didn’t need to worry about not doing magic. It was just a little protection spell he was sure.

“If you do not take care of yourself Matthew I am going to find out how to make magic handcuffs and I will handcuff you to bed for a week.”

He did his best to look sheepish, “Sorry Candy. I just wasn’t thinking.”

“He can’t see that Candy. She is doing the ‘you think gesture’. Now she is flipping me off. Very ladylike. Mom would love this.”

“Like you are any better!”

Frank’s chest vibrated with silent laughter.

“Welcome to the family Frank”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm taking prompts for the rest of the chapters! Let me know what you would like to see here or on Tumblr. Love y'all!
> 
> Link to Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/itismeseeao3


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